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PITTSBURGH, PA - MAY 03: Chase Burns (26) of the Cincinnati Reds delivers a pitch during an MLB game against the Pittsburgh Pirates on May 03, 2026 at PNC Park in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) | Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
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Cincinnati Reds righty Chase Burns is fresh off a brilliant outing Sunday against the Pittsburgh Pirates. In it he pitched through a career-best 7.0 IP, held the Bucs scoreless, and lowered his season ERA to a tiny 2.20. He owns a 201 ERA+, 1.024 WHIP, and is striking out a wonderful 10.1 batters per 9 innings pitched.
When the stats were tallied by Baseball Reference overnight and run through their supercomputer’s extensive modeling system, it turns out that Burns currently sits atop the National League leaderboard for WAR accrued by pitchers so far in 2026 at 1.8.
It’s a testament to Burns, obviously, who at just 23 years of age seems to be putting all his immense tools together and lead this rotation. It’s also a testament to the Reds themselves, who have spent the entire season so far without ace Hunter Greene and rock-solid starter Nick Lodolo yet still boast a starting pitcher who’s atop the Wins Above Replacement leaderboard in their league.
The fun part is that I feel quite confident that this won’t be the last time we get a leaderboard update that has Burns atop the list in WAR. He’s got every tool needed to completely dominate this sport, and we’re getting an early glimpse of it right now despite him still having just 15 career starts under his belt.
Keep crushin’ it, Chase!
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